The Celebration of Excellence, an event hosted by George Mason University’s Office of Admissions in conjunction with the Honors College, welcomed nearly 1,300 guests to campus on Saturday, February 24th to allow prospective Honors College students a chance to spend the day familiarizing themselves with Mason’s campus and what the Honors College has to offer.
The day began with welcomes from the Dean of Admissions, Amy Takayama-Perez, the Dean of the Honors College, Zofia Burr, and two current students, Faysal Shaikh ’18 and Karmen Perry ‘21. Perry and Shaikh offered their perspectives on what it means to be an Honors College student at Mason, from pursuing research opportunities early and often, to meeting their best friends in the Living Learning Community (LLC).
Throughout the day, prospective students and their families enjoyed tours of campus, academic and student life browsing, and lunch. The event is designed to offer admitted students an opportunity to talk with faculty, staff and current students with someone ready to answer a question at every possible turn.
Current Honors College student Alex Mertz, a Math major from Charlottesville, Virginia loves admissions events because he “love(s) meeting all of the prospective students and helping people out if they’re lost or confused, sharing my experiences with the Honors College, telling them why I like it here, telling them why they may also like it here.” Alex is involved in faculty-guided research, and serves as a peer mentor in the LLC. He says he chose the Honors College because he “really liked the idea of smaller class sizes and having the extra advisor to really get that personal connection with different faculty.”
Honors faculty enjoy admitted student event days as they offer the first look at the incoming class, and an early opportunity to make connections with future potential students and advisees. Dr. Andy Hoefer, Assistant Dean of the Honors College, also regularly teaches honors classes. Reflecting on his time with students at Mason, he said, “This is my eighth year here. I’ve advised, I’ve mentored, and I’ve taken students all over, on field trips, everything. It feels like most of my life is spent, if not with my own children, then with Honors College students.”
Dr. Hoefer also enjoys these events because of how they’re structured, saying “Honors College students and Ambassadors are really able to answer questions in a more satisfying way for prospective students and their families. And so, we can sort of step in when it’s just a policy or procedure question. And that’s a better way for them to make their choices about college.”
At lunch in Dewberry Hall, prospective students had a chance to sit down with Honors College students and Mason Ambassadors to ask questions and have relaxed conversation. One prospective student said they felt the students she talked to were “motivated, but at the same time easy going. Which is a really great combination, sort of like they have a drive but also are willing to communicate.”
Other current students were found upstairs in the Johnson Center representing their college or program, including Forensic Science student Samantha Hadley whose favorite thing to tell someone who’s new to Mason is “All you have to do is pursue. A lot of professors and people on campus are so willing to help students get involved and look for research, all you have to do is ask.”
One of those professors willing to help students get involved is Professor Chuck Leonard who is in his sixth year at Mason. He said, “The relationships I build with students are really kind of cool and they tend to lead towards things like internships and job offers. And when I know what you want to do with your life, and I just got this letter from an employer who’s trying to hire somebody for the summer, those connections are really good when that happens. We get peoples asking us ‘who would be a great person?’ every week.”
Having faculty available at the event was something that one prospective student really appreciated, saying, “I liked that I got the chance to talk to people that are in charge of the different schools, so you get a lot more in-depth information that we wouldn’t have gotten online or in a brochure.”
Though the day is long, it flies by. Dean of Admissions Amy Takayama-Perez said at the end of the event that she “hope(s) the biggest takeaway is that the students from the Honors College feel like this is really a smaller community benefitting from the resources of a larger Tier 1 University. And hope that they and their families know that if they come here and they’re part of the Mason community that they’re going to be very well taken care of.”